It has made us pause for a moment and think about hearing and the impact of mothers in general, ours, ones we’ve helped hear at affordable prices here in the UK.  As well as the mothers of children we’ve helped around the world (both the children’s whose mothers we’ve helped and the  mothers whose children we’ve helped).  Exploring the reasons we do what we do and the impact our actions have, with ‘mothers’ at the centre of our thinking. 

Such as:

We’ve had tears of joy all round!!! I honeatly can’t tell you how incredible it is for Mum to simply hear everything. Everything!!! We’ve just had a seamless, joyous evening chatting – mainly about eyes and ears – and it’s completely changed everything. I really, really am so incredibly grateful and delighted and overjoyed. I cannot WAIT to help her pop them on tomorrow and listen to everything.   Thank YOU for making it possible. Huge, HUGE thank you for answering the bat call and swooping in.

This really is life saving for everyone and especailly for Mum and I’ll supervise and support her use of them this week to hopefully set up good habits! X

We’re so grateful to have been able to help and grateful that they took the time to let us know how everything was going.  Love the reference to the bat phone too!

Ethel was rightly incredibly proud of her profession.  Zöe remembers hearing on long walks how Ethel would walk 2 miles each way, every day, in all weathers, to school and back.  Ethel worked in the ENT department at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.  Which makes it all the more extraordinary that her unilateral deafness was blamed on ‘dropping a sash window on her head during one of her pregnancies’.  However, 70 years later Zöe’s otosclerosis diagnosis might point towards there being a very different cause.  Ethel had 3 children and it is not known during which pregnancy the window occurrence happened.  You  know how much we love all things ‘circular’ (particularly the circular economy of refurbishing hearing aids!).  To keep things nicely round let’s say it was when Ethel was expecting Gilly (Zöe’s mother)!

Deaf Affordable Hearing’s Co-Founder Zöe had ‘problem’ ears right from the beginning.  With multiple ear infections from babyhood leading to having her adenoids removed around age 5.  A routine school hearing test in early adolescence showed a level of hearing loss.  Leading to another hospital stay for a tonsillectomy and the insertion of grommets . Unfortunately that hearing loss was the early stages of otosclerosis rather than glue ear.  Gilly is as determined as Ethel was.  Once the otosclerosis diagnosis was received.  Gilly set about researching where Zöe would have the best chance of successful stapedectomy surgery.  Clinique Jean Causse in Beziers, France.  Clinique Causse remains a centre of worldwide Otological excellence.  Zöe was lucky enough to be operated on by Jean-Bernard Causse (J-BC).  As a young person with already advanced otosclerosis and the oestrogen link, J-BC advised that pregnancy may have a further adverse effect on Zöe’s hearing and that maybe 0, 1 or a maximum of 2 children might be sensible. Sooooo…..

As an inherited condition it remains to be seen if/how otosclerosis may affect the next generation from a hearing point of view.  Or if/how the next generation might be connected to the future of the business and the overseas charity work it enables.  Sharing their family kitchen with thousands of hearing aids heading to help people around the world will be an inextricable part of their childhood memories.  From collecting boxes of hearing aids during work experience weeks.  Earning pocket money: cleaning hearing aids for Ukraine.  Listening to hearing aids destined for Malawi.  Inspecting hearing aids for Uganda.  Their impact has been immeasurable already.  Zöe’s incredibly proud and grateful for their help and support.

Fletcher Chisalipo is an amazing audiologist in Malawi who Affordable Hearing have been able to help by donating hearing aids.  The donated hearing aids have now helped thousands of people including Rosemary – a deaf Mum:

Click on the image to see a short video of Fletcher and Rosemary

Zöe was recently sent a picture of a small child pulling a face with the caption ‘having a weird Mum makes you stronger’.  Here’s Zöe at the National Funeral Exhibition gamely wearing ‘the ears’ to raise awareness for Affordable Hearing’s Hearing Aid Recycling initiative.  Does filling the house with hearing aids make her a ‘weird Mum’?  Does wearing multiple sets of ‘comedy ears’ at Funeral exhibitions make her a ‘weird Mum’.  Who knows?  Only Smarties have the answer (who’s old enough to remember that one?)!  Weird or not, she’s a very proud Mum!

Hearing aids are all about connection.  Connecting us to each other.  Whether it is mothers to mothers and children to mothers or mothers to children, or even if you’re a Womble, hearing aids are like little bridges to the world of communication.  We’d absolutely love to help you or someone you love enjoy increased connection this Mother’s Day.

Click on the image to see some Wombling action!

Co-Founder Zöe put the latest Concealed in Canal hearing aids from Oticon through their paces recently.  We’ll be uploading her review, please do check back HERE soon to find out how she got on.

Changes all the time. 

We try our best to update the website.  However, it’s always worth giving us a call on:  0330 230 3333 to find out what we have in the cupboard!  With our premium, refurbished hearing aids, hearing well really doesn’t have to cost the earth!  Maybe you have an older hearing aid that isn’t working very well any more.  We may be able to offer you trade-in/part-exchange towards a different pair.  We may be able to refurbish your no longer needed hearing aids to help a mother like Rosemary somewhere around the world.

Got a no longer needed ‘oldie’ lying around.  Affordable Hearing are so proud of their association with Hearing Aid Recycling and DeafKidz International.  Through the power of positive collaboration, between us, we sent over 100,000 hearing aids to be distributed free to people in need around the world in 2025.  To places including Ukraine, Malawi, Uganda, Pakistan, Syria, South Africa, Zambia, Gambia, Zimbabwe.  We couldn’t do it without you.  Every no longer needed hearing aid you buy or send us will go to a next best use.  Either to help someone here in the UK as a refurbished affordable hearing aid or overseas free to help someone without a hearing aid.  We’ll be updating our Affordable Hearoes gallery very soon.  Telling you all about the amazing people around the world we’ve helped and who help us ‘Help Others Hear’.  Every hearing aid’s life that we prolong will have a huge impact.  Looking after our planet by reusing and recycling but also by helping Deaf people get and stay connected.  We’d love to do even more in 2026, can you help us?